The Paper Players #766 - Tic Tac Toe

Claire has a really fun Tic Tac Toe board for us to play with for The Paper Players challenge #766! 

Though I started out choosing the left column: white, Christmas, and die cuts

I think you'll catch a bit of sparkle and a quite 'vintage' looking panel of patterned

paper tucked into a thank you from HoneyBee Stamps - thanks for the Free Bee, Melissa!

This lovely HoneyBee Lovely Layers: Dove is delivering a tag for

perhaps a special gift left under someone's tree? along with a Betterpress-ed

sentiment with the best gifts of all...

I'd love to live in this little village - wouldn't you?  Did you catch

that Subtle Embossing here?  It gives it an extra bit of vintage IMHO.

That's it from me this week - thanks for your visits!

=] Michele

The Flower Challenge #109

Well, my friends, if you haven't completed your Christmas cards by now this could be your wakeup call! lol 

The Flower Challenge's December challenge is always about those lovely Christmas blooms - and that always comes down to Poinsettias for me - by now you know how much I love them.  Nothing new in my stash but I often go to this lovely, layered Poinsettia die set from HoneyBee - always fresh, and beautiful!

I've cut the layers from creamy white and added a few neutral

die-cut leaves and branches from several HoneyBee and Spellbinders' sets.

That gorgeous woodgrain is Simon Hurley for Spellbinder: Bark.

A platinum heat-embossed sentiment from 

Pinkfresh Studios: Holiday Large Sentiments completes my design.

Now for some sad news.  December is our final month for The Flower Challenge. Please know that this wasn't an easy decision to make.  Don't even think we haven't loved every moment/card/team member and lovely floral card you have all shared with us over the years!  Beyond that, I cannot thank YOU ALL enough for the love and support you've given me personally in your kind comments!

We'll each have one more reminder card for you on the 15th.  Until then, I look forward to all the cards I just know you all will add to our gallery this month!  Let's go out with a bang, shall we?

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #715

Hello again, my friends!  BIG news: We have TWO new designers and we're so excited to welcome Donna Mikasa and Michelle Langley to our FMS family!  welcome, ladies! 

A fresh and fun new Freshly Made Sketch to play with!  Karren has a dandy for us ...

Do you agree it's just tricky enough to make us think a little?

Well, here's where my thoughts took me...

I know I have a few friends who live in warmer climates where

sand dollars may be found more often than snowflakes!

Besides, I just could not resist this gorgeous paper from HoneyBee's Vitamin Sea collection.  My little Gina Marie Designs Sand Dollar brings me back to my very first meeting with my friend Marcia at a craft show - the rest is history, right, my friend?

Here is her closeup where you might see the snowflake embellishments,

and the PTI's Elegant Edges: Snowflakes, a big die cut snowflake from

HoneyBee and one more of those Betterpress-ed sentiments.

I look forward to seeing how YOU interpret Karren's Sketch soon -

you have until Monday, December 8th at 3:00PM EST!

=] Michele

Color Hues #123

I'm still so upset that I missed the last challenge at Color Hues, I thought I'd make up for it today... it's been some time since I've made 'second helpings!'  'Tis the season for it, I think!

Tracey has a lovely color combo for us this month - and they've given us a WHOLE MONTH to play with challenge #123!  

 

Another of the goodies from The Greetery shipment to share - their gorgeous Capsule Christmas Gallery Prints... though those berries might be more 'berry' colored than pink, I couldn't resist this vintage beauty framed in eucalyptus green and tied with a gold bow...

I couldn't help but send that oval through my Subtle Texture EF from SU!

The layers are: Capsule Basics Small Scallop, Capsule Filigree border, the berry branch cutout, and to top it all off a gold hanger and bow cut from vintage gold foil using the 

wonderful freebie enclosed in my order shown below:

My 'seconds' were so simple I should make 'thirds!'

A beautiful Betterpress: Season's Greetings Evergreens from Spellbinder

using PF Ballet Slipper and Altenew's Sweet Leaf, and Just Green inks.

This just makes my CAS-loving heart happy!

=] Michele

As promised! Rosemal in grey!

Happy Monday!  Is anyone else happy to go back to their regularly scheduled days?  I wasn't even mad about laundry day!

I promised you a look at my grey Rosemal card from The Greetery so I'm here to keep that promise.  My MIL has a December birthday, so I decided to make her a card collection to last until Christmas!

As much as I love these oval cards, they are next to impossible

to 'stand up' without a 'kick stand!'  You'll forgive me for these

'flat' photos.  Cut from MFT Steel Grey card, then swiped with

Hero Arts white...

Under the small oval birthday card is an ornament for her tree

and under that is the Christmas card.  I just love the burgundy

Regency bow and Poinsettia, don't you?

I'm less-than thrilled with the swiped gold on her Christmas card,

but was too invested by this time to remake it differently.  

The whole kit-and-kaboodle was placed inside a cellophane envelope

for giving.

Next is one using the Rosemal Reflections stamp set - and I couldn't have done it easily without the fabulous stamping guide that Betsy offers free for printing!

After all the stamping is done, it is embossed with the coordinating 

Rosemal Reflections Embossing Folder.

One more... in all this glorious creamy Neenah Solar white... Shortbread Shapes Snowflake:

Right in the center I've placed one SSS Alexis Snowflake, and one

bright red Regency bow...

but I just could not add a sentiment!

Enjoy your Monday and thanks so much for stopping by!

=] Michele

Color Hues #122 - but I missed it!

The lovely Nancy Leppek is the host with the most at Color Hues for challenge #122 - Nanc' you almost stumped me this time, my friend!  it looks like I missed my window of opportunity but that won't stop me from sharing.

A wonderful package of goodies arrived from The Greetery that I was thrilled to spend some time with today.  I have to say I'm more pleased than I thought I would be with this color combo you've chosen!  Thanks for pushing me beyond my comfort zone!

It might be a little hard to see, but there is a scalloped panel of

sparkly silver paper between those layers and a trio of silver doo-dads on each

of the largest flowers.  I was totally bewitched by Betsy's creations using

her November release.  My card features: Rosemal Reflections EF, Details dies, and Capsule basics dies.  I can't help but give you a closeup up:

I love that all the die-cut pieces can be put into the EF for adding all those details

and dimension!  I found my teals from MFT: Tropical Teal, and C&9th Aqua Sky and Oceanside.

Just wait until you see the one in grey I made for my MIL's birthday/Christmas!

Until it's light enough for photos, you'll just have to wait to see!

=] Michele

Freshly Made Sketches #714

Cecile has a delightful sketch for us this week!  Take a look...

 Since this one falls on the eve of Thanksgiving, and I knew there would be LOTS of cooking going on in our kitchens, I have 'worked ahead' and I had a bit of fun with this character again - I hope you will all get a chuckle out of it!

I've purposely left off a sentiment to keep the 'punchline' on the

inside... now who on my list might appreciate my sick sense of humor?

I'm wishing all of you a happy Thanksgiving!  gobble, gobble!

Hope you're not too full to play along with Freshly Made Sketches this week!

=] Michele